I am new to this whole teacher gift giving thing with having my daughter Raquel in school for the first time this year. We planted some Amaryllis bulbs for teachers gifts a few weeks ago and have been watching them grow like we did last year. I found the bulb kits on sale at the grocery store and purchased cuter pots for them at a local greenhouse. Raquel loves planting anything with me and was so delighted to make her gifts for her teachers. The bulbs have sprouted now sitting in the sun in the window and are ready for gifting tomorrow.

I will be light on posts now for the next 2 weeks as we take a little vacation out west and enjoy the holidays with family.

it seems as though each year as the Christmas season sneaks up, my mind draws a blank when naming a few of the different cut evergreens. Know your Christmas greens. Impress your boyfriend's mom by commenting on the lovely scent of cedar from her wreath or ask your friend where she acquired her centerpiece with juniper berries.

My favorite green this year are magnolia leaves. I love there deep, broad leaves and the soft velvety brown tones underneath. Here are some Christmas container plantings I did for a client. Test yourself, can you identify what's in them?

One of my biggest wants in life is to have a little glass house. A quiet green place to slip inside and feel the warmth and growing things in the winter. I saw photos of this unique one made from recycled windows and had to share it with you. A greenhouse... someday you will be mine!

Ilex berries, also known as winterberries, are gorgeous holiday berries used in Christmas arrangements by floral designers at this time of year. They are grown from a shrub that has copious amounts of red berries in late autumn. Once cut, the ilex berries stay on the branches for a long time. I love to use them in outdoor planting too. You can find them at a flower market, florist and (sometimes) the grocery store.

the winner of the blossom buddies book giveaway this week is domestic diva! congrats!

It's my little Penelope's first Christmas this year! I like to get each of my girls a first Christmas ornament to hang on our tree which we will be putting up tonight. I started looking around etsy a few weeks back and stumbled upon the cute penny keychains that pat from patsdesigns makes. Pennies! How perfect for my lucky little Penny. I asked her if she could make a custom design for me as an ornament and she did a great job! She also makes necklaces, dog tags and more with pennies showing your lucky year (year you met, anniversary, children's birth dates etc). Check them out here.

dont forget to enter the blossom buddies giveaway here. not many have entered which makes your luck of winning high! it ends wednesday at midnight.

Do you remember this post I did not too long ago? Well, like I said in it, my little girls adore this book, Blossom Buddies by Elsa Mora. Actually, I adore it too! Elsa has taken natural elements and made them into different characters and photographed them. The publisher teNeues, is giving one lucky flores del sol reader a copy! Just in time for the holidays and perfect for children or anyone who appreciates creativity.

What to do to win?

Just leave me a comment with your email (or a link to it).

additional optional entries (leave a comment for each thing you've done):- follow flores del sol blog (link is on the sidebar)- like flores del sol on facebook here- tweet this giveaway- share it on fbgiveaway ends december 7th at 12pm est, US residents only

This past weekend I may or may not have gone out for girls night to see breaking dawn. Ok, I'll fess up... I did. I am no twihard, but I did read the books 3 years ago and enjoy seeing the movies with my friends who first got me to read the books. So we giggled like little girls, sat packed in a full theater and of course discussed the movie afterward in comparison to the book. Bella and Edward marry in this movie. A Twilight wedding? You better believe it was huge and beautiful. It was held almost as much a secret as the royal wedding. The whole feel was very organic, woodland and romantic with the canopy of white wisteria cascading from the trees (40- 50 feet in length!) and moss covered stumps flowing with white flowers. The floral designer in charge was Tammy Polatsek.

So I put together a collage of the flowers used in the wedding:

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Bella's bouquet:

I still can not even find a photo of Bella's bouquet so from what I remember it had all mostly white ranunculas, stock, freeshia and possibly roses and sweet peas mixed in.

Boutonnieres:I believe they were small freesia florets. It was hard to tell though without getting up close.

so if you want to go-ahead and comment that I am a huge dork and you've lost all respect for me... or that you vomited in your mouth upon seeing the title of this post... or confess you saw the movie too ;)

If you like flowers (well, I know you do because you are reading this blog) then you will like flowers by bornay in barcelona, spain. They take different objects like planets, an actress, the bride of frankenstein or a robot and create designs inspired by them. They use lots of 'color tool' (aka flower spray paint) to get the perfect hues to match. Here are two of my favorites:

Have you seen it? I am obsessed with Downton Abbey. A Masterpiece mini series that has won 6 emmy awards. I was quickly hooked last year when it first aired and so upset that I would have to wait a whole year to see what happens next. I re-watched the first season over the summer with my sister Sherri and got her hooked. I am so excited that the second season will be premiering on January 8, 2012 here in the US. I am so jealous of those living in England who are watching the second season on BBC now.The set is beautiful, along with the costume design (modern yet still traditional) and it also has a great plot with some romance mixed in. The show entered the Guinness book of world records as the 'most critically acclaimed television show' for the year, becoming the first British show to win the award. It beat American shows Mad Men and Modern Family to the title. Have I convinced you to watch it yet!?

You can catch up and watch the first season through net-flix, on dvd or it will be re-airing on PBS in december. Or if you live by me you can borrow mine. A great thing to watch over the thanksgiving holiday. They also just confirmed that there is a third season premiering in September 2012!

I had such a wonderful weekend! Thanks to Melissa and Marichelle for hosting the pop-up shop. It was beyond gorgeous. Everywhere I looked was fabulous eye candy. I was Ooohing and ahhing all day over the variety of artists and their work! Not to mention munching continuously on delicious treats made by Brandi. It was great to also meet so many new faces and hear the tales of how they create their work or how they started. It was a wonderful day in maplewood :)

I love all things green. Succulent leaves, interesting textures, soft moss. I am a professional floral designer who has created a way to work artistically and still be home with my little girls. Fresh from the garden state, flores del sol.

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Flower aficionado Christina Moreno is part horticulture expert, part floral designer. Her extensive knowledge of the botanical world is evident, from musings on her own botanical finds, to interesting and timely tidbits like the history of the royal wedding bouquet. Drawing on her love of all things vintage, Moreno also creates surprisingly modern arrangements made of dried flowers and moss in her Etsy shop.-elle decor.com